Tuesday, 19 October 2010

News release from The Madeleine Foundation...

..........following the lifting of the ban on Gonçalo Amaral's book, "A Verdade da Mentira," by a Portuguese court in Lisbon.

This morning, a Portuguese newspaper, Diário de Notícias, reported that the Portuguese Court of Appeal had overturned the draconian orders of two previous lower Portuguese courts, and has allowed Goncalo Amaral once again to sell his book ‘The Truth About A Lie’.

The news reached the English-speaking world through the blog of Portuguese blogger Joana Morais, who rapidly translated the news report, as she has translated so many Portuguese reports for an English readership over the post three years.

Tonight we learn that this news has been confirmed by all the major Portuguese newspapers in their online editions; these include Sol, Jornal de Noticia, Correio de Manhaã, TVI24, and A Bola. According to Google News tonight, there is a totals of 33 news items on the internet tonight, all apparently so far in Portuguese, about this stunning news. So far as we are aware, not one British newspaper has yet reported on this news, despite the saturation coverage the British press gave to the original banning of Mr Amaral’s book in September last year and to his unsuccessful appeal in January and February this year.

The Portuguese press is tonight quoting Dr Kate McCann as saying that the Portuguese Appeal Court’s decision is ‘unbelievable’. Given all the significant contradictions amongst the police witness statements of the McCanns and their ‘Tapas 9’ friends, some might say the same about their own accounts of what really happened to Madeleine McCann.

All members, supporters and followers of The Madeleine Foundation will want to join with us in congratulating Mr Amaral on a courageous and sustained fight to win the right to publish his book.

At the same time we remember that the Portuguese judicial system has yet to find judicial time to hear Mr Amaral’s appeal against his conviction last May for allegedly filing a false report, and that he also faces a further criminal case on the basis of what we say are unfounded accusations against him by the partner of serial liar and murderess Leonor Cipriano, now serving a 16-year jail term for murdering her own eight-year-old daughter, who she claimed had been abducted.

The news comes just 17 days after The Madeleine Foundation held a series of events in support of ‘Goncalo Amaral Day’ on 2 October, a day we established in honour of a man who has sacrificed much to bring us the facts about the Madeleine McCann investigation.

Though many people scoffed at our efforts, thousands of British people are now better informed about Mr Amaral through our leaflet: ‘Your Questions Answered about Goncalo Amaral’, which has been distributed in many British towns.

Finally, we have been asked about the continuing ban on our own book: ‘What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 Reasons which suggest she was not abducted”. Whilst it is true that an undertaking was given by the book’s author, Tony Bennett, not to further sell or distribute it, as we said at the time, circumstances might lead to that undertaking no longer being appropriate.

We will be reviewing the situation at a forthcoming Committee meeting and it is possible that Tony will make an application to the High Court to be freed from his undertaking not to sell the book. High Court undertakings may be varied or nullified at any time if circumstances change.